Centuries
by Keys Studio
Summary: Kirito x Klein, yaoi, language, violence. Kirito comes across Klein in the town of Mishe. They decide to party up. Once they do, they spend the night at local inn. Read to find out what happens! (Story better than description.)


**This was written for two reasons. One, to sate my need for this ship, and two, to see how long it would take for me to type something as long as possible before I got tired of it. So, let's see how this goes! XD**

**I don't own Sword Art Online, Akihiko Kayaba does. Joking! Reki Kawahara-sama does! :D**

**[xXx]**

Kirito collapsed underneath a tree in the dense forest, his legs poised for him to get up at any given moment should the need arise. Leaning his head back against the base of the try, he sighed heavily. He had just cleared out most of the area, defeating every monsters in a one hundred foot radius from where he was, gaining more than enough experience than he originally intended to. He even leveled up a whole level in the process! However, he got carried away and had been unknowingly wanting to farm out the items of the monsters and did so. Now his items filled his inventory to the brim of warning, edging dangerously close to his overweight limit. He would have to go to the nearest town and unload his weight in items in exchange for Col. Swiping the air for his window, he checked the overall map. "The closest town is... Mishe..." he murmured softly. He left the map and went to his inventory. He had several Teleport Crystals, but he knew that would be just taking the lazy way out... That and the crystals were pricey.

Standing with some annoyance, the noirette sighed. "May as well just walk back..." he murmured softly to himself. He made the slow treck to the town, killing whatever respawned creature he found along his way. One creature's items put him just the littlest bit overweight, dragging him down a bit. However, Kirito needed that Col to upgrade his swords and armor before the next floor, so he could not afford to drop anything. Especially since none of the items were junk items. If some of the items had been junk, then the male would have no remorse whatsoever about discarding some of them. Sadly, none of the items were junk, so there was no point in hopelessly complaining internally to himself. Instead, he decided to just bare the weight of his items and trenched onward towards Mishe. He would be at a disadvantage if he came across another creature, or worse, the rare mini boss that had been rumored among the players and yet to be confirmed by the information brokers in the area. The male, himself, didn't know whether or not to believe if the elusive boss was in the area, but he wasn't all that willing to find out just yet. Not when he had so many items in his inventory...

Thankfully, the rest of the rest of the trip back to Mishe was rather anticlimactic. Kirito made it into the urban, medieval looking town, his boots lightly and quietly moving along the cobblestone road beneath his feet. Glancing around, he saw the two to five storey houses looming over him on both sides before they seemed to fade into the decorated shops and inns of the town. Finding a general store, the noirette walked inside, surprised by the sight of a certain red haired player in the shop. "Klein?" he asked softly. Sure enough, when the red head turned around, there stood Klein, a surprised look covering his features. The look of surprise was quickly replaced by a look of familiarity and joy.

"Kirito!" greeted Klein, waving as he walked over to the younger male. He slapped him lightly on the back. "How have you been? I haven't seen you in weeks... I was about ready to go check the Monument of Life to make sure that you didn't go off anf die on me."

Kirito smiled a little bit at him. "Well, if I died, I'm sure that I would have vanished off of your friends list..." he informed the man. _That's why I'm glad that you haven't died yet..._ he thought to himself. He didn't like the idea of the one person who managed to break past his antisocial wall within less than a minute of their first meeting dying on him. "Anyways, it's nice seeing you here... How have you been?" _And why am I being so chatty today_? It was something that crossed through the noirette's mind that he couldn't help but ponder over.

Klein responded with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders. "The same old me last I checked," he replied to the male. He threw an arm over his shoulders. "What about you? Still soloing out the game?"

"Yeah," nodded the noirette. "Although it does get a little lonely from time to time..."

"Well, why don't I go on some adventures with you?" offered the red head. "I've been worrying over you since you went solo and this will give me the chance to make sure that you're doing okay." He grinned sheepishly. "So what do you say?"

Kirito paused for a moment. Usually, he would object to being in group with someone, but... This was Klein. He had offered the red head the chance to be with him when they first knew each other's real faces. At the time, Klein had told Kirito that he couldn't due to his friends being back at Town of Beginning's center, that he had to go get them. The noirette had been confident that he could protect one person, but another or more would have been too much of a risk. It was a risk that, at the time, the male could not take. But now that he was stronger... and it was only Klein... He knew that he could handle it. He looked at the man, onyx eyes meeting warm brown eyes. "Alright," he said softly. He opened his menu and invited the red head to a party.

One that the red head accepted with a grin.

After Kirito sold all of the items he needed to from his farming endevours, the two went to the nearest inn. It was somewhat late in the day, and the two of them had agreed that they would spend the rest of the evening figuring out what they would do the next day. Kirito collapsed on the only bed in their shared room, sighing heavily as he did so. "Today has just been too long," he murmured softly to himself as he lazily opened his menu. He removed all of his armor and his weapons. After a moment, he decided to just sleep in his boxers. So, with that in mind, he also unequiped his shirt and pants, leaving him in only his black boxers.

"Black seems to be your favorite color there, Kirito," teased Klein as he sat on the other side of the bed. He unequiped his armor and weapons as well, including his shirt and his bandanna, leaving him in his pants and boxers. The noirette noted that the male's boxers were red with yellow lining and that his pants were riding a little low.

"And red seems to be yours," teased Kirito right back with an amused smile. He moved himself to lay down along the bed, grabbing the blanket and covering himself with it. "Now come on... We need to get some sleep..."

"I'm getting there," chuckled Klein, laying down beside the male. He pulled up the other side of the blanket and covered himself with it as well. Seeing that Kirito had rolled over to face away from him, the red head sighed some. He then wrapped his arm around the noirette, pulling him flush against his body, the younger's bare back against the older's bare chest.

"Wh-what are you doing?" blushed Kirito. He wasn't protesting the holding, not at all. He just wanted to know what the other was thinking by doing that.

"Holding you," murmured Klein softly against the boy's black hair. "You worry me half to death... I also know how elusive you get... You could take off on me the moment I go to sleep..." _I don't want you to leave me..._ the red head thought sadly to himself. There was something about Kirito that drew the older to him, and he didn't want to lose him after worrying so much about him. Not after finally being able to get close to him again.

Kirito rolled over in the man's hold, looking up at him like he was crazy. "Klein, you know me. I wouldn't lead you like that..." he said softly. He then lightly blushed, casting his gaze away from that of the older male's own. "I'm no exactly fourteen anymore, okay?"

"I know, I know, you're fifteen. You're a big boy," Klein smiled slightly. "Fifteen years old. Just think about all of that puberty that you get to miss thanks to this game..."

"Can't say I miss it much..." chuckled Kirito, closing his eyes and laying his head against the man's chest. He could hear his heart beat, just the slightest bit more rapid than it should have been. It didn't matter much, though, not to the noirette. It felt good just knowing that, even if the two were in a game where their deaths meant not only the deaths of their avatars but the deaths of their real bodies as well, they still held the semblance of being human. Their ability to feel touch was a little lacking, but not much. They held the appearance of their human bodies, and they acted like their normal selves. But the thing was that they were nothing more than just ones and zeros. Nothing more than data... "Do you miss it? The real world?"

Klein took a moment to think on it. "I do and I don't..." he replied. "I miss being actually real, yeah, but..."

Kirito stopped him there. "You are still real," he told him. "Never think otherwise, Klein..."

"Sorry... I meant real like... Flesh and bone. You know... How we aren't anymore..." The red head sighed softly, his hand going up slightly to touch the boy's black hair. Just the touch of the black locks seemed to ease the man's nerves a bit. "I miss that. I don't miss being sick, and I certainly don't miss the boring work of the real world... But I miss being able to have things like phones and television and computers... I miss being able to feel pain..." He closed his brown eyes and lightly tangled his fingers in the younger's hair. "I miss the fact that there are over six billion people in the real world... I miss that all of our side skills, like cooking and tailoring, are actually really hard in the real world..."

The teenage boy relaxed some. He shared a good deal of the man's views... "I understand how you feel..." he whispered. "I missed my mom... And my sister..." He shook his head slightly. "Why don't we go ahead and get some sleep? Let's not really think about it anymore..."

"Yeah..." agreed Klein softly. He lightly stroked Kirito's hair. "Good night... Kirito..."

"Night... Klein..."

Together the two fell asleep into their own dreamless worlds, relaxed and at ease. The feeling of one another's presence and flesh was enough to keep them asleep for the better part of the entire night. It wasn't until late morning that they awoke. Klein had been holding Kirito against him still, spooning him with their blanket shoved down and off of their bodies. Their legs were tangled together, and their hands were holding one another, their fingers laced together. Both were embarrassed at the state in which they had woken up to, but neither one of them wanted to say a thing. It was just too comfortable for them to give it up by complaining to one another. Instead, the two stayed like that for a while, talking softly to one another about little things. Like how the two met and how they both had missed each other after separating in the Town of Beginnings. Kirito admitted to feeling pain whenever he turned around and didn't see the man there. And Klein admitted to feeling pain just having to walk away from the alley that day.

They both had wished that they stayed together. They seldom ran into one another since that first day, and that was another part of their regrets. Both had been too busy trying to level and survive that they never made time to hang out with one another. Both had missed the other's company...

"What do you say, Kirito? Why don't you join my guild...?" Klein asked the male softly.

"You know how I feel about being in a guild, Klein..." sighed Kirito. "After the last time..."

Klein nodded slightly once the noirette trailed off. "I understand," he told him softly. "I was just offering it to you... If you ever change your mind, just let me know okay?"

"Alright..." the younger replied. He shifted slightly. "Why don't we get up? My arm feels like it's going to fall off if I keep it in this position for much longer..." After being released slightly, Kirito slipped out of the bed, standing and stretching out his body. Twisting his body a little bit, he heard his back pop. How that was actually possible, the male had no idea. After all, they didn't feel pain in the virtual world of Aincrad. He did some stretches as Klein slipped out of the behind him. Just as he came up, the boy felt arms wrap around his middle, a head laying on his shoulder. Glancing over, he saw Klein's semi-groggy face, a lazy smile on his lips. "Um..." the noirette blushed. "What are you doing?"

"Hugging you," replied Klein. "I was kind of hoping that maybe, possibly... we could spend the day together..."

"We're going to quest today, remember?" Kirito frowned slightly. Had the red head already forgotten?

Klein shook his head slightly. "I meant outside of questing. You know. Like _normal_ people do. Like what we did in the real world. Walk around, talk, hang out, catch up... All that kind of stuff."

Kirito shivered. He had felt the stubble of the man's beard brush against his bare shoulder ever so slightly. And it made the younger feel something warm and tight curl up into his abdomen. Something that the male had never felt before. "O-oh..." he whispered softly. "Well... I-I guess we could do that... I _am_ kind of tired of farming and grinding for experience and stuff..."

The red head grinned and pulled Kirito back on top of him. "Alright. First thing is first. A wrestling tournament to get the blood flowing."

"What? Dude, I think your NerveGear is glitching up," snorted Kirito. Although, the sound of wrestling kind of did sound a little fun. Mainly because Kirito had never done it before. He had gotten into fights before, yes, but it was usually with the use of his swords. With a sister back in the real world instead of a brother, the noirette never had the chance to do things like play catch or wrestle or anything like that. So... "But whatever. I'm game."

Klein grinned and rolled them over, on top of the noirette. The two wrestled, constantly rolling over along the bed as they did so. They were both fighting for dominance, and so far, the older was winning. Currently, Kirito was on top of the red head, grinning at the mere thought that he was currently in the lead. However, Klein rolled them over, the two hitting the floor. The red head was on top of the younger, his knees straddling his waist and keeping him pinned down. The older grabbed Kirito's wrists and pinned them above the boy's head. Both of them panting, flushed in face, sweaty, and almost naked, they felt a little more blood pumping in their bodies than there needed to be. "I... do believe... that I... won this round..." panted Klein.

All Kirito could manage to do was nod slowly.

Klein pulled away, rolling onto his back beside the male. He panted heavily, needing to catch his breath. Their wrestling had winded him, no problem. How that was possible given that they didn't really need oxygen in their virtual world, the man had no idea. Either way, though, he didn't really care. It was all just purely instinct. His body's natural reaction to so much physical exertion. Feeling a hand lightly brush against his own, he lightly brushed his back in return. Soon enough, he felt their hands grip one another, their fingers lazily lacing together. _What's this feeling that I have in my chest..._? the red head wondered to himself.

Kirito had been wondering the same thing. His chest felt light and warm and delicate, as though any sudden movement would break him into the million little shards of blue and green that happened when a player died. He wasn't sure if the man was feeling the same thing he was or not... Secretly, inside, he really and honestly hoped so. He found himself sitting up slightly.

Klein saw him, but something kept him from sitting up and stopping him, or even meeting the male half way. Instead, he watched with those brown eyes of his, waiting to see what the noirette had in store for him.

Their lips brushed, chapped and longing.

It was only just the tiniest bit of contact. Just the tiniest little brushing of their lips. And that little act brought forth a wonderful feeling for them both, right inside of their chests. Their hearts fluttered in unison. Their cheeks once more became flushed. Their lips came back together once more. This time, though, they stayed together. Klein reached up with his free hand, tangling his fingers in the younger's black hair. Kirito used his own free hand to cup the older's cheek. The two continued to kiss and hold each other, wanting to stay that way for as long as they possibly could. Eventually, though, after what felt like an eternity, the two pulled away, their eyes half open and staring into one another.

"Kirito..." whispered Klein, lightly tightening his hold on the boy's hair.

"Klein..." whispered Kirito in return, brushing his thumb along the man's jaw line.

The younger went to kiss the older once more, but he was stopped in the process by the older. "We can't," he whispered. "Not here..."

"My place, then?"

Klein nodded. "But only after some questing and whatnot," he told him. "I want to get you something before we go to your home tonight..."

"What quests do you have in mind?" Kirito asked softly, lightly brushing his hand against the red head's cheek once more.

Klein leaned into the younger's touch. "There's a hidden quest that I heard of from my information broker..." he explained. "In the forest near here... It's only just been found the other day... The quest giver is a man trapped in the nest of a large bird. The story behind it is basically that the man was hiking and, all at once, the bird swooped down and caught him. When it did, it brought it back to its nest, where there is a single egg. Upon hatching, the baby bird inside will gobble up the man. Basically, the point of the quest is to kill the mama bird so that the egg will grow too cold to hatch."

"What's the quest item that comes with it?"

Klein shook his head slightly. "It's a mystery. From what I understand, it offers a choice between a weapon box and an armor box."

Kirito blinked then fell into thought for a moment. He then nodded. "I wouldn't mind doing the quest," he informed Klein.

"Then let's get dressed and be on our way, hmm?"

It took a little bit, the two not having wanted to separate from their comfortable positions. Once they were in their clothing and armor, their weapons in their respective places, the two went out, planning to take on the quest that Klein had been talking about. Although, Kirito couldn't help but wonder something. The floor had been around for a while... So why had the quest only _now_ show up? Then it occured to him. "Klein, remember that boar from back when I was showing you how to play? Before we found out that we were stuck here in SAO?"

Klein nodded. "Of course. That was the day we met," he informed him. "Why do you ask?"

"Remember what you had said? That you thought that boar was a mid-level boss?"

Another nod.

"Well... I think that's what we're going to run into here... With this quest, I mean."

"How do you mean?" Klein questioned, raising a questioning brow.

"I mean... Think about it. This floor has been around for a while. And the forest is a common hunting ground. Don't you find it a bit odd that _nobody_ has learned about this quest until only just recently?"

Klein frowned some then nodded. "Yeah, now that you mention it..."

"How many Teleportation Crystals do you have?" Kirito asked a little worriedly.

"I have two. Just enough for the both of us should we _really_ need them," assured the man.

The noirette sighed in relief. "Good..." he murmured softly. He lightly grabbed Klein's hand the moment they were out of the town of Mishe, his fingers lacing with the older's hesitantly. "I'm worried. What if one of us...?" He trailed off. Even though he didn't finish his thought aloud, Klein still knew what the younger meant.

The red head offered a gentle smile. "I still have that item you gave me from the Christmas event..." he promised him. "The Divine Stone of Returning Soul, if I'm right... If I'm close to dying, I'll quickly trade it to you. I promise."

"I hope that neither one of us will have to use it..." admitted the younger, lightly tightening his hold on the older's hand. He was met with Klein's other hand reaching up, ruffling his black locks playfully. Glancing over, Kirito saw that the older was smiling at him with a reassuring smile.

"I'm sure that we'll be just fine," Klein informed him. "Now come on. I studied the map the information broker let me look at and I know the general area of where this NPC is." Gently, the older tugged Kirito through the forest, wanting to show him the way. Eventually, after many a battle and picking up items, the two made it to the very center of the forest. "The nest, like most birds' nests, will be up in the trees. But this tree that holds the one we're looking for is slightly bigger than the rest. It has to be to hold the big nest of the mama bird."

"Big tree. Got it. It would have to be on lower branches, too," Kirito said, looking up and around. Using his high level Detection skill, he quickly found it. He pointed at a tree that stood tall not twenty or so feet away from them. "Up that tree." He looked at Klein. "Do you want me to climb up there and accept the quest for us both?"

Klein shook his head, lightly squeezing the younger's hand. "If we're going to climb that tree, we're going to do it together." Watching the younger nod and begin to lead the way, the red head followed him. Up the tree, the two climbed, focusing on the hand and foot holds in which they could find. Kirito's assumption about the nest being low to the ground had not been exactly right. It was still lower than the midway point of the tree, but it wasn't low to the ground either. In fact, if the man had to guesstimate, the nest was the midpoint between the ground and the midway point of the tree. Rolling over the edge of the large nest into it's confines lazily, Klein sighed some in relief. "I could run for hours and not be as winded as I am right now..."

Kirito chuckled softly as he knelt beside the male. "I guess that means that I'm a bit more in shape than you are," he teased him, reaching down and lightly tapping the tip of the man's nose.

The red head lightly nipped at his finger playfully. "Yeah, yeah," he smiled. "But you're younger than me, so of course you _need_ to be in more shape."

"You aren't going to pin the whole, _you're a kid that plays MMORPGs so you're lazy and out of shape_ thing on me?" laughed the younger, withdrawing his hand.

"That would be pinning me as lazy and out of shape, so yes," laughed the older, sitting up. Slowly taking in their surroundings, his brown eyes landed on a frightened looking man. The quest giving NPC. They found him! Klein stood and moved over to the NPC. "Are you alright?" triggered the quest log, so those were the words that the red head spoke. In front of him popped open a quest information box just as the NPC began to speak to him in a frightened voice.

"Hush!" he whispered, placing a gloved finger to his lips. "The beast could return at any moment!" Glancing around with frantic green eyes, the NPC continued on quietly in a hush voice, "You have to get me out of here. That... that _flying monstrosity_ captured me down in the forest below a few nights ago. From what I can tell, it's saving me as a dinner for its young one..." He pointed at the large egg that laid on its side on the other side of the nest. The egg was bigger than Klein was by a foot in height and three feet in diameter, silver in color with golden spots, bronze colored floral designs decorated around those spots. As if the gold on the egg was nothing more than flowers, not yet bloomed... "Once it hatches, I'm going to be its first meal! You have to help me... Please..."

Klein read through the information box and more than easily comfirmed the story. The only requirement was that they slay the mama bird and the NPC would be free to leave without fear of the egg hatching. After all, with no mama to warm it, the egg wouldn't be able to hatch and would eventually die. The reward was doubled, due to Klein and Kirito being in the same group, and the reward was exactly what the rumors said them to be. A choice between an armor box and a weapon box. Glancing back at the noirette, he asked him, "Weapon or armor?"

"Armor. My weapon is the highest I can get off of a monster drop at our highest current floor level," Kirito replied, tapping accept on his quest box.

The older nodded in understanding and soon followed suit in accepting the quest. Once they did, a loud screech was heard overhead, along with a loud flapping of large wings. Hurrying down the tree, the two prepared themselves for a battle, their swords drawn from their sheathes and at the ready. Down from above came a large bird that resembled a pheonix of sorts. Her feathers were similar to that of the egg that she had laid up in the nest, silver and gold and bronze in color. The silver shifted along her feathers like clouds in the sky, the gold shimmered like a small waterfall in a river bank, and the bronze rippled like rain drops hitting pavement. The bird had a long, hooked, black beak, and long, menacing black legs, feet, and talons. She opened her hooked beak and let out another horrible screach as she landed on the ground. Kicking up the dirt and grass below her feet, her name appeared above her head with two long health bars.

_Salriel the Stouthearted_.

She was a midlevel boss...

Delicately, Klein reached back with his free hand, lightly touching the pouch around his waist that held the revival item. There was something about the boss that threw him off... That set him on edge. Sparing a glance at Kirito, he saw that the noirette was feeling the same thing that he was. Nervousness. Anxiety. They both felt it with the presence of the boss. Looking back at Salriel, the man swallowed roughly.

The boss attacked first, launching herself at Kirito. The noirette was quick to block the attack, but it knocked a little bit of his HP down. The boss was fast, though, recoiling and attacking again before the younger had time to recover. Thankfully, Klein intervined as quickly as he could, blocking the attack. "It looks like we'll have to do a bait and switch!" the red head said to the younger as he slid his blade upwards. Before he could receive a reply, he attacked the bird as quickly as possible. It did a good deal of damage. It wasn't nearly as bad as it could be. After all, the boss's strength and all that seemed to be the same. The only difference was the HP she had. It was doubled in points due to there being more than one person on the quest to defeat her. If the two worked fast, they could defeat her, easily...

The two attacked and attacked, all the way until the boss unleashed her next battle set mode, on her last health bar and ready to defend herself in order to live. She flew up into the air, just out of their ranges, before divebombing for Kirito. Klein was too slow to come to his aid.

Salriel made contact with her attack, Kirito just a fraction of a second too late in blocking it.

Klein watched in complete horror as the noirette's health dropped dangerously low. It was a one shot kill manuever. The boss would definitely be trying to evade any and all attacks dealt towards her in order to allow the attack to recharge. "Kirito, get out of here!" the red head cried, attempting to attack the boss himself from the ground. He even tried running up some of the trees to see if he could land on her back.

"Not without you!" Kirito shot back, attempting to do the same as Klein. But they both knew that one more hit would kill the younger.

And that one hit struck the noirette in the form of Salriel smacking him down to the ground with one of her large wings roughly.

"_KIRITO_!" screamed Klein. He growled and screamed at the boss, using a sword skill. When he did, the damage it made was just enough to kill her. She shattered into a million pieces. Dropping his sword, the red head hurried to his dying friend's side. "Don't you die on me, Kirito! Not now!"

"Hurry... Klein..." pleaded the male, biting his bottom lip roughly in fear.

Hurry?

Why did Klein have to...?

Kirito shattered, much like the boss did. It was only then that the red head realized why he had to hurry.

Quickly, he pulled out the rare revival item that he had been given so long ago. "Revive Kirito!" he cried. All of the shattered pieces of the noirette slowed, but they didn't seem to want to come back to form the young boy. Desperate, Klein shoved the item into the air. "Revive! Revive, revive, revive!" The shards continued to slow, but they still did nothing to indicate that the item had worked.

Then it happened.

The item shattered.

But Kirito didn't return to Klein's arms.

Tears rolled down the red head's face from his horrified brown eyes. Kirito was dead. And Klein had been too late in reviving him... His heart broke in his chest. His best friend had died... Right in front of him... "Damn it..." he whispered. "DAMN IT!" He fell forward, hitting his fist against the ground hard. Of course the stupid system brought up a stupid notice of the ground being a stupid inanimate object. As if he cared anymore. Instead, he cried, mourning the loss of his good friend... his lover... "I-I never... got to tell him..." _I never told Kirito that I loved him_... he thought brokenly.

For the next few minutes, he cried until he was unable to do so anymore. It took a little longer for him to collect himself. Standing weakly, he decided to head back to the town. He could turn in the quest later... When he wasn't in serious pain.

Klein returned to the inn that he and Kirito had stayed in the night before, heading straight for his room. His hand paused on the door knob. He would break down again if he went in there... After all, it had been only hours before that he and Kirito were in there, cuddling and wrestling and kissing... "I shouldn't have mentioned that quest to him..." whispered the man, lowering his hand. He laid his forehead against the door. "If I hadn't said anything about it, he would still be..." He couldn't bring himself to say it. Instead, he let himself in. He needed a place to break down in without being seen...

"Klein?"

The red head jumped considerably when he heard his name. Looking up, his brown eyes widened. There, on the bed, laid Kirito, wearing the blanket over his naked, revived body. "Kirito...?"

"Klein!" Kirito beamed, shooting up from the bed with the blanket around his waist. He hugged the man tightly. "You save me, Klein! Thank you! Thank you so much!"

Klein hesitated to hug the boy in return. How...? It had to be a dream... "How...?"

"That item sent me to the safe zone..." explained Kirito. "I think that may be what happened..." He looked up at the red head with happy tears in his onyx eyes. "Thank you..."

Klein saw his eyes and knew that there was no way it was a dream. He pulled the boy up roughly and kissed him on the lips, needing to make the boy know how happy he was that he was alive. Thankfully, Kirito understood and kissed him back in return. Eventually, though, they both needed air.

Pulling away, Kirito smiled. "Why don't we stay here tonight, relax, calm our nerves, then tomorrow, we can turn in that quest... And maybe head over to my house on Floor Fifty..."

Klein held him tightly against him. Stroking his black hair out of his child-like face, he smiled weakly. "More like two nights. I don't think that I can handle going back out there after that boss fight... Not so soon, anyways..." Remembering his thoughts after the boy's earlier death, he cupped his cheek. "Kirito, I-."

"I love you."

The red head blinked in surprise. He then began to laugh. "Ah, man, Kirito! You beat me to it!"

The noirette blushed some, smiling more. The sound of Klein's laugh was wonderful. "Well, I _am_ a _Beater_." They both laughed at the poorly made joke.

Wiping the tears from his eyes, Klein beamed brightly. "I love you, too, Kirito... Really... I do..." He then kissed him once more, just for a brief moment. He then whispered into his ear, "Now, as much as I would like to give into these urges in mine, can you please put on something under that blanket of yours? I don't want to accidentally kill you through rough sex."

Kirito blushed deeply. "Maybe I shouldn't~," he teased.

"Ki-ri-toooo..."

"Nope~! I'm going commando, now."

"Don't be teasing me now... I _will_ pin you down to the bed and take you as mine..."

Kirito leaned up, lightly biting on the man's ear lobe. Blowing hot, sticky air into his ear, he breathed, "I would like that very much, especially after the day we had..."

**[xXx]**

**Read and review, please! :D**

**~Evee**


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